Aggies ready to defend WAC Title in Arizona

LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The seven-time Western Athletic Conference champion New Mexico State Aggies put their back-to-back titles on the line starting Monday when the conference tees it up for the 2015 WAC Championships on the Gold Course at the Wigwam Golf Club in Litchfield, Ariz.

The Aggies have won the last two team titles and have taken seven in the last nine seasons.

NM State, ranked 59th by Golfstat and 61st by Golfweek, leads the WAC with a 289.3 team scoring average and is expected to be challenged by Missouri-Kansas City with a 290.3 stroke average.

The Aggies are led by Albuquerque senior Pat Beyhan, who sports a 72.17 stroke average (third in the WAC). Beyhan is coming off a pair of top 10 finishes and has one tournament title (the three-way win between Aggies at the Herb Wimberly Invitational).

Sophomore Luis Medina of Guadalajara, Mexico tallies a 73.08 average will play second in the lineup, while senior Brett Walker of Ukiah, Calif., with his 72.80 average will play the fourth. The duo join Beyhan as tournament winners with the share at the Wimberly.

Junior Kenneth Fadke of Hobbs, N.M., holds a 73.48 average and will play off the third bag in the tournament’s opening round.

Playing in his third tournament of the season, Keith Bennett of Stowe, Vt., joins the Aggie lineup for the WAC Championships. Bennett has a 74.33 average in six rounds this season.

Beyhan and Walker have seen action in each tournament this season for the Aggies, while Fadke has played in nine tourneys and Medina eight.

Live scoring will be available online at www.GolfStat.com and a recap of each day’s play will be available at www.NMStateSports.com. The women’s golf team will also be defending its title on the Heritage Course of the Wigwam Golf Club.